Harmonix was hesitant over Wii, now big fans

by Chris Greenhough { Apr 16th 2008 at 5:00PM }

Well, we finally know the answer to a question that's been floating around since before the Wii version of Rock Band was confirmed: when it came to the Wii edition, what took so long, fellas? After all, Nintendo's console not only sells lots, but it's also a hit with the social gaming crowd, who'd surely lap up Rock Band.

The answer is a familiar one, because like so many other developers and publishers before it, Harmonix failed to anticipate just how popular this Wii thing was going to be. GameDaily grilled Harmonix VP of Product Development Greg LoPiccolo on this, who manfully admitted that "when we made the initial decisions about where to place our resources, [the success of the Wii] wasn't as clear as it became in retrospect and really for us, it was simply a matter of resources." Or, to put it another way: Harmonix likes money.

LoPiccolo also confessed that Harmonix had been reluctant to hand over the development reins of the Wii version to a different company, and that the studio "wasn't comfortable handing much of the core off to others, because we wanted to make sure that it was everything we wanted it to be." Whether Wii Rock Band is everything we want it to be is still up for debate.

Gallery: Rock Band

Tags: ea, harmonix, music, rhythm, rock-band

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

raptorspike @ Apr 16th 2008 5:28PM

Funny, I'm a big fan of a number of sports teams. I don't tear them down when talking to people. they essentially did that, but from a programming standpoint. they say they're big fans of the Wii, but they hand us a big steaming pile

jughead789 @ Apr 16th 2008 5:30PM

Yea, yea, yea, you thought the wii wouldnt make you money but now you see how popular it is and how well games like guitar hero have sold on it so you have given control to another development company to make a quick sh*tty ps2 port to cash in. F*ck off Harmonix. Some of us waited a long time for this game an this is wat you give us. We are not amuuused.

Curtis the Claw:XBL - supapaypamawio @ Apr 16th 2008 5:37PM

amuuused isn't a word.

Mr Khan @ Apr 16th 2008 5:38PM

Aye, if you like Wii so much, develop something worthwhile and don't feed us excuses

Yes, we all know about the hardware limitations, we're not blind or stupid. You want that DLC money? Find a workaround

Matt B @ Apr 16th 2008 5:54PM

Yeah, it was obvious they didn't think the Wii was worth it. Then they saw how much Activision was making with GH3, and they said "OOOOOOO MONEY MONEY MONEY MONEY, MOOOONNNAAAAY"

Oh and I love how they were so concerned about letting another company develop the Wii version because they didn't want it to suck, then they version they developed completely sucked (Lack of Wiimote usage, no GH3 guitar support, no online play, no DLC). Ugh. Screw you Harmonix and screw Rock Band. I'll be buying Guitar Hero: Aerosmith to support a company who actually cares about the Wii version (Wiimote support and online play).

Avoli @ Apr 16th 2008 6:02PM

Any harsh words about this crap, I fully support.

Ghen @ Apr 18th 2008 5:41PM

++vote for the truth.

Chris @ Apr 16th 2008 7:00PM

Harmonix, STFU. hm, I like money too and i'm better off saving the money that could have been spent towards a non-crippled wii rock band, but instead you decide to make it a flaming piece of monkey-shit so i'll keep my money thank-you-very-much.

raptorspike @ Apr 16th 2008 7:29PM

Anyone considered sending nasty emails expressing our distain to Harmonix and Pi Studios? I do that whenever news that pisses me off comes out. I just sent one about my response to this BS press release

DBuck_Eye @ Apr 16th 2008 9:15PM

Harmonix: Wait, what?! The Wii is successful?!? Quick! To the Bandwagon!

Roto13 @ Apr 16th 2008 10:19PM

"LoPiccolo also confessed that Harmonix had been reluctant to hand over the development reins of the Wii version to a different company, and that the studio "wasn't comfortable handing much of the core off to others, because we wanted to make sure that it was everything we wanted it to be.""

Rarely do I read something that makes me want to bitchslap an entire company.

clif @ Apr 17th 2008 12:23AM

The sad thing is Harmonix could've tried a lot harder to make a good port.

I clearly understand that there is four instruments and they maybe co-op online couldn't be done on that scale. But the wii can do two instruments.

Even drum battle couldn't have been that hard to have online like in the 360 or PS3 versions.

Lastly, Harmonix isn't small company anymore. They have MTV and EA two huge companies one that is backed by viacom too. So, therefore they could've pressured nintendo into making a hard-drive for rock band.

They could've been heroes in the wii world. But now they are getting crapped on. I still love harmonix by they could've tried harder.

Everybody knows that Pi Studios and Harmonix/EA/MTV "Games" half assed it.